pennyspoetryfandomcom-20200214-history
Richard Cumberland
| birth_place = Master's lodge, Trinity College, Cambridge, England | death_date = May | death_place = London, England | occupation = Dramatist | nationality = British | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = | notableworks = | influences = | influenced = | website = }} Richard Cumberland (19 February 1732 - 7 May 1811) was an English poet, playwright, and civil servant. Life Overview Cumberland was educated at Westminster and Cambridge, then entered the diplomatic service, and filled several government appointments. His best play is The West Indian. His novels do not rise much above mediocrity. Along with Sir J.B. Burges he wrote an epic entitled The Exodiad, and he also made some translations from the Greek.John William Cousin, "Cumberland, Richard," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, 1910, 103. Web, Dec. 30, 2017. During the American War of Independence he acted as a secret negotiator with Spain in an effort to secure a peace agreement between the 2 nations. He also edited a short-lived critical journal called The London Review (1809). His plays are often remembered for their sympathetic depiction of colonial characters and others generally considered to be on the margins of society. Family Cumberland was born in the master's lodge at Trinity College, Cambridge. His great-grandfather was Richard Cumberland, bishop of Peterborough. The bishop's only son, Richard, was archdeacon of Northampton. Archdeacon Cumberland's second son, named Denison, after his mother, was born in 1705 or 1706, educated at Westminster, became a fellow-commoner of Trinity College, Cambridge, and in 1728 married Bentley's daughter, Joanna, who was adored by many young men at Cambridge (see Monk, Bentley, ii. 113, 267), and when 11 years old was celebrated by John Byrom in the Spectator. Denison Cumberland was presented to the living of Stanwick in Northamptonshire by the Lord-chancellor King, and divided his time between Cambridge and Stanwick until Bentley's death in 1742.Stephen, 290. Youth Richard Cumberland spent much of his infancy in Bentley's lodge, and has left some curious reminiscences of his grandfather. When 6 years old he was sent to school under Arthur Kinsman, at Bury St. Edmunds. Before leaving this school he had written English verse, and compiled a cento called Shakespeare in the Shades, specimens of which are given in his memoirs. When 12 years old he was sent to Westminster, where he lodged at 1st in the same house with Cowper, and was a contemporary of Colman, Churchill, Lloyd, and Warren Hastings. He says that he was entered at Trinity College, Cambridge, in his 14th year though from the date of his graduation, 1750-1, it would appear that he must have come into residence in 1747, i.e. at the age of 15. Some of his grandfather's books and papers were presented to him by his uncle, Dr. Richard Bentley (the papers were ultimately given by Cumberland to Trinity College; Monk, Bentley, ii. 415). This led him to study Greek comedies, afterwards discussed in the Observer. He also read mathematics, and distinguished himself in the schools, his name being 10th in the mathematical tripos for 1750–1. He was elected to a fellowship in the 2nd year after his degree — the regulations which had hitherto excluded candidates until their 3rd year having been altered on this occasion. He was afterwards chosen to one of the 2 lay fellowships.Stephen, 291. He earned a B.A. in 1751, was made a Fellow in 1752, and earned an M.A. in 1754.Richard Cumberland (1732-1811), English Poetry, 1579-1830, Center for Applied Technologies in the Humanities, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. Web, May 24, 2016. After his degree he had gone to Stanwick, where he made preparations for a universal history, and wrote a play upon Caractacus in the Greek manner. Denison Cumberland had gained credit from the government by enlisting in his own neighborhood 2 full companies for a regiment raised by Lord Halifax in 1745. By actively supporting the whigs in a contested election for Northamptonshire (April 1748), he established a fresh claim, which Lord Halifax recognised by taking the son as his private secretary in the board of trade. John, brother of Thomas Pownall, was secretary, and Cumberland, whose duties were nominal, amused himself by studying history and composing an epic poem. Civil servant His father, at the beginning of 1757, changed his living of Stanwick for Fulham. He was a prebendary of Lincoln from 1735 to 1763, and of St. Paul's from 1761 to 1763 (Le Neve, Fasti, ii. 215, 412). At Fulham Cumberland became acquainted with Bubb Dodington, who had a villa in the neighbourhood. He was employed as go-between by Halifax and Dodington when Halifax was intriguing with the opposition in the spring of 1757, and for a time left his office, though he did not actually resign. Cumberland now wrote his first legitimate drama, called The Banishment of Cicero, which was civilly declined by Garrick, but published in 1761. On 19 February 1759 he married Elizabeth, daughter of George Ridge of Kelmiston, Hampshire, having obtained, through the patronage of Halifax, an appointment as crown agent to Nova Scotia.Stephen, 292. Halifax, after the death of George II, was appointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland (6 Oct. 1761). Cumberland became Ulster secretary, and his father 1 of Halifax's chaplains. Just before Halifax resigned the lord-lieutenancy he appointed Denison Cumberland to the see of Clonfert. He was consecrated 19 June 1763, and in 1772 translated to Kilmore. He died at Dublin, November 1774, his wife sinking under her loss soon afterwards. His son, who paid him annual visits, speaks strongly of his zeal in promoting the welfare of his tenants, and his general public spirit and popularity. Halifax became secretary of state in October 1762, and, to Cumberland's disappointment, gave the under-secretaryship to a rival, Cumberland — according to his own account — having been supplanted owing to his want of worldly wisdom in refusing a baronetcy. He was now glad to put up with the office of clerk of reports (worth 200l. a year) in the board of trade. Dramatist Having little to do, and being in want of money, he began his career as a dramatist, and boasts (not quite truly) (Memoirs, i. 269) that he ultimately surpassed every English author in point of number of plays produced. His 1st production was a "musical comedy," the Summer's Tale (1765), in rivalry of Bickerstaff's Maid of the Mill (revived as Amelia in 1768). His 1st regular comedy, The Brothers, had a considerable success at Covent Garden in 1769. In the next year he composed the West Indian,’ during a visit to his father at Clonfert. Garrick, whom he had flattered in the epilogue to the Brothers, brought it out in 1771. It ran for 28 nights, and passes for his best play. He received 150l. for the copyright, and says that 12,000 copies were sold. Cumberland, who was now living in Queen Anne Street West, became well known in the literary circles. He used to meet Foote, Reynolds, Garrick, Goldsmith, and others at the British coffee-house. He produced the Fashionable Lover in January 1772, and rashly declared in the prologue that it was superior to its predecessor. His sensitiveness to criticism made Garrick call him a "man without a skin," but he explains that there was then "a filthy nest of vipers" in league against every well-known man (Memoirs, i. 347, 349). Cumberland's best performances belong to the sentimental comedy, which was put out of fashion by the successes of Goldsmith and Sheridan. Cumberland gives a very untrustworthy account of the 1st night (15 March 1773) of Goldsmith's She stoops to conquer. Goldsmith died 4 April 1774, shortly after writing the Retaliation, containing the kindly though subsatirical description of Cumberland as "The Terence of England, the mender of hearts." The famous caricature of Cumberland as Sir Fretful Plagiary in the Critic, first performed in 1779, was said, according to a common anecdote, to have been written in revenge for Cumberland's behaviour on the first night of the School for Scandal, 1777. It was alleged that Cumberland was seen in a box reproving his children for laughing at the play. "He ought to have laughed at my comedy, for I laughed heartily at his tragedy," is the retort commonly attributed to Sheridan. Cumberland's 1st tragedy, the Battle of Hastings, was performed in 1778, and he denies the whole story circumstantially, and says that he convinced Sheridan of its falsehood (Memoirs, i. 271; see also Mudford, Cumberland, i. 179). Cumberland's Memoirs supply sufficient proof that the portrait in the Critic was not without likeness. Cumberland's Choleric Man was produced in 1774 and published with a dedication to Detraction In 1778 he produced the Battle of Hastings, the chief part in which was written for Henderson's first appearance in London. Garrick's retirement probably weakened his connection with the stage. Later life At the end of 1775 Lord George Germaine (afterwards Lord Sackville) became colonial secretary. Through his favour Cumberland was appointed soon afterwards to succeed John Pownall as secretary to the board of trade. In 1780 he obtained some private information which led to his being sent on a secret mission to Spain in combination with an Abbé Hussey. A long account of his adventures on the voyage to Lisbon and his negotiations in Spain is given in his ‘Memoirs,’ and a volume of papers relating to it, left by him to his daughter, is in the British Museum (Addit. MS. 28851). The purpose was to induce the Spanish authorities to agree to a separate treaty with England. The great difficulty, according to Cumberland, was that he was forbidden even to mention a cession of Gibraltar, while the Gordon riots in 1780 excited the distrust of the Spanish ministers at a critical moment. In any case the mission was a failure. Cumberland returned to England, after a year's absence, in the spring of 1781, having incurred an expenditure of 4,500l., for which he could never obtain repayment. Soon afterwards the board of trade was abolished and Cumberland sent adrift with a compensation of about half his salary. He had to reduce his expenditure, and settled for the rest of his life at Tunbridge Wells. Here he was a neighbour of Lord Sackville, of whom he gives an interesting account in his Memoirs. He became a commander of volunteers during the war. He continued to display a restless literary activity, prompted partly by the need of money. Soon after his return (1782) he published Anecdotes of Eminent Painters in Spain, in 2 volumes. He returned to playwriting. His first drama, the Walloons (performed 20 April 1782), was apparently a failure. Johnson tells Mrs. Thrale that he made 5l. by it and "lost his plume" (to Mrs. Thrale, 30 April 1782). He produced many other plays, of which the Jew (acted 12 times) and the Wheel of Fortune seem to have been the most successful. The first is praised for the intention to defend the Jewish character. Besides his play-writing, which only ceased with his death, he wrote 2 novels, Arundel (1789) and Henry (1795) (in imitation of Fielding), and a periodical paper called the Observer, almost the last imitation of the Spectator. The 2nd volume of the reprint in Chalmers's British Essayists contains a continuous history of the Greek comic dramatists, with translations of fragments, founded on his youthful studies. It was 1st printed at Tunbridge Wells in 1785, and in a later edition (1798) formed 6 volumes, including a translation of the Clouds of Aristophanes. Cumberland's translations were included in R. Walpole's Comicorum Græcorum Fragmenta (1805) and in Bailey's edition of the same (1840). His translation of the Clouds is included in Mitchell's Aristophanes. He published in 1801 A few Plain Reasons for believing in the Christian Revelation. He also took part in various controversies, defending Bentley against Bishop Lowth (1767) in a pamphlet on occasion of a remark in Lowth's assault upon Warburton, assailing Bishop Watson's theories about church preferment in 1783, and attacking Dr. Parr in a pamphlet called ‘Curtius rescued from the Gulph’ (1785). He had 4 sons: Richard, who married the eldest daughter of the Earl of Buckinghamshire and died at Tobago; George, who entered the navy and was killed at the siege of Charleston; Charles, in the army, and William, in the navy, who both survived him; and 3 daughters: Elizabeth, who married Lord Edward Bentinck (an alliance which, according to Mrs. Delany, was likely to produce serious consequences to the health of the Duchess of Portland); Sophia, married to William Badcock; and Frances Marianne, born in Spain, who lived with her father and married a Mr. Jansen. Stephen, 293. Cumberland died at Tunbridge Wells 7 May 1811, and was buried at Westminster Abbey 14 May, when an oration was pronounced after the service by his old friend Dean Vincent. Writing Cumberland wrote much but has been remembered most for his plays and memoirs. The existence of his memoirs is largely due to his friend, the critic Richard Sharp, (Conversation Sharp) who together with Samuel Rogers and Sir James Burges (Sir James Lamb, 1st Baronet) gave considerable support to the endeavor.'The Memoirs of Richard Cumberland', pub. Parry & McMillan, 1856. pps 318-319. The collection of essays and other pieces entitled The Observer (1785), afterward republished with a translation of The Clouds, was included among The British Essayists. He is said to have joined Sir James Bland Burges in an epic, the Exodiad (1807), and in a novel, John de Lancaster. Besides these he wrote the Letter to the Bishop of Oxford in vindication of his grandfather Bentley (1767); another to Richard Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, on his proposal for equalizing the revenues of the Established Church (1783); a Character of Lord Sackville (1785), whom in his Memoirs he vindicates from the stigma of cowardice; and an anonymous pamphlet, Curtius rescued from the Gulf, against the redoubtable Dr Parr. He was the author of a version of 50 of the Psalms of David; of a tract on the evidences of Christianity; and of other religious pieces in prose and verse, the former including "as many sermons as would make a large volume, some of which have been delivered from the pulpits." Cumberland published his memoirs in 1806-07. Lastly, he edited a short-lived critical journal called The London Review (1809), intended to be a rival to the Quarterly, with signed articles. Poetry In conjunction with Sir James Bland Burges he wrote an epic called the Exodiad (1808). Of some odes to Romney (1776), Johnson observed (Boswell, 12 April 1776) that they would have been thought "as good as odes commonly are" if he had not put his name to them. In 1792 he published a poem called Calvary. This poem was analysed by Dr. Drake in his Literary Hours (Nos. 18 to 21), according to the precedent of Addison upon Paradise Lost. Drake thinks that Cumberland has happily combined the excellences of Shakespeare and Milton, of which he has certainly made pretty free use. In consequence of Drake's praise 7 editions were published from 1800 to 1811. Plays His plays, published and unpublished, totaled 54. About 35 of these are regular plays, to which have been added 4 operas and a farce; about half are comedies. His favorite mode was the "sentimental comedy," which combines domestic plots, rhetorical enforcement of moral precepts, and comic humor. He weaves his plays out of "homely stuff, right British drugget," and eschews "the vile Gallic stage"; he borrowed from the style of sentimental fiction of Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, and Laurence Sterne.Richard Cumberland (dramatist), Wikipedia, 20 April 2017. Web, Dec. 31, 2017. His favorite theme is virtue in distress or danger, but assured of its reward in the fifth act; his most constant characters are men of feeling and young ladies who are either prudes or coquettes. Cumberland's comic talents lay in the invention of characters taken from the "outskirts of the empire," and intended to vindicate the good elements of the Scots, Irish, and colonials from English prejudice. The plays are highly patriotic and adhere to conventional morality. If Cumberland's dialogue lacks brilliance and his characters reality, the construction of the plots is generally skilful, due to Cumberland's insight into the secrets of theatrical effect. Though Cumberland's sentimentality is often wearisome, his morality is generally sound; that if he was without the genius requisite for elevating the national drama, he did his best to keep it pure and sweet; and that if he borrowed much, he borrowed only the best aspects of other dramatists' work. His first play was a tragedy, The Banishment of Cicero, published in 1761 after David Garrick rejected it; this was followed in 1765 by a musical drama, The Summer's Tale, subsequently compressed into an afterpiece Amelia (1768). Cumberland first essayed sentimental comedy in The Brothers (1769). This play is inspired by Henry Fielding's Tom Jones; its comic characters are the jolly old tar Captain Ironsides, and the henpecked husband Sir Benjamin Dove, whose progress to self-assertion is genuinely comic. Horace Walpole said, that it acted well, but read ill, though he could distinguish in it "strokes of Mr Bentley." The epilogue paid a compliment to Garrick, who helped the production of Cumberland's second comedy The West-Indian (1771). Its hero, who probably owes much to the suggestion of Garrick, is a young scapegrace fresh from the tropics, "with rum and sugar enough belonging to him to make all the water in the Thames into punch,"—a libertine with generous instincts, which prevail in the end. This early example of the modern drama was favorably received; Boden translated it into German, and Goethe acted in it at the Weimar court. The Fashionable Lover (1772) is a sentimental comedy, as is The Choleric Man (1774), founded on the Adelphi of Terence. 2 volumes of "posthumous dramatic works" were printed in 1813 for the benefit of his daughter, Mrs. Jansen. A list of 54 pieces, with some inaccuracies, is given in the ‘Biographia Dramatica.’ Genest (viii. 394) reckons thirty-five regular plays, four operas, and a farce; besides adaptations of ‘Timon of Athens’ (Memoirs, i. 384), in 1771, and others. Six of the later plays are printed in the fifth volume of Mrs. Inchbald's ‘Modern Theatre’ (1811). Recognition Cumberland is buried in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey.Richard Cumberland, People, Our History, Westminster Abbey. Web, May 24 2016. George Romney, whose talent Cumberland encouraged, painted his portrait, which is in the National Portrait Gallery, London. An engraving of a portrait by Clover is prefixed to his Memoirs. Publications Poetry *''An Elegy Written on Saint Mark's Eve''. London: M. Cooper, 1754. *''Odes''. London: J. Robson, 1776. *''Miscellaneous Poems: Consisting of elegies, odes, pastorals; together with Calypso: a masque''. London: F. Newbery, 1778. *''Calvary; or, The death of Christ: A poem, in eight books''. London: C. Dilly, 1792. Volume I, Volume II *''A Poetical Version of Certain Psalms of David''. Tunbridge Wells, UK: J. Sprange, 1801. *''The Exodiad: A poem; by the authors of Calvary and Richard the First'' (with James Bland Burges). London: Lackington Allen, 1807. *''Retrospection: a poem in familiar verse''. London: W. Bulmer, for G. & W. Nicol, 1811; Boston: Bradford & Read, 1812. Plays *''The Banishment of Cicero: A tragedy''. London: J. Waller, 1761. *''The Summer's Tale: A musical comedy''. London: I. Walsh, 1765. *''Amelia: A musical entertainment, of two acts''. London: J. Dodsley, 1768. *''The Brothers: A comedy''. London: W. Grifin, 1770. *''The West Indian: A comedy. London: C. Griffin, 1771. *''Timon of Athens: Altered from Shakespeare: A tragedy. London: T. Becket, 1771; Dublin: J. Exshaw / H. Saunders / W. Sleater / et al, 1772. *''The Fashionable Lover: A comedy''. London: W. Griffin, 1772. *''The Note of Hand; or, Trip to Newmarket''. London: T. Becket, 1774; Dublin: J. Exshaw / W. Sleator / J. Potts / et al, 1774. *''The Choleric Man: A comedy. London: T. Becket, 1775. *The Battle of Hastings: A tragedy. London: Edward & Charles Dilly, 1778. *''Calypso: A masque, in three acts. London: T. Evans, 1779. *''The Mysterious husband: A tragedy, in five acts. London: C. Dilly / J. Walter, 1783; Dublin: William Gilbert, for the Company of Booksellers, 1783. *''The Carmelite: A tragedy. London: C. Dilly / G. Nicol, 1784; Dublin: Wilkinson / Moncrieffe / Walker / et al, 1785. *''The Natural Son: A comedy''. London: C. Dilly / G. Nicol, 1785; Dublin: Price / S. Watson / Williams / Moncrieffe / et al, 1785. *''The Impostors: A comedy''. London: C. Dilly, 1789; Dublin: H. Chamberlain / R. Moncrieffe / W. Colles / et al, 1789. *''The Box-lobby Challenge: A comedy''. London: J. Debrett, 1794. *''The Jew: A comedy. London: C. Dilly, 1794; Dublin: T. McDonnell, 1794. *''First Love: A comedy, in five acts. London: C. Dilly, 1794; Philadelphia: Samuel H. Smith, 1796. *''The Wheel of Fortune: A comedy. London: C. Dilly, 1795; Dublin: William Porter, for P. Wogan / P. Byrne / J. Boyce / et al, 1795.. *''The Days of Yore: A drama, in three acts. London: C. Dilly, 1796; Dublin: P. Wogan / P. Byrne / W. Jones / et al, 1796. *''False impressions: A comedy, in five acts. London: C. Dilly, 1796. *''Joanna of Monfaucon: A dramatic romance. London: Luke Hansard, for Lackington, Allen, 1800. *''The Sailor's Daughter: A comedy, in five acts. London: Luke Hansard, for Lackington, Allen, 1804; New York: David Longworth, 1804.. *''A Hint to Husbands: A comedy, in five acts. London: R. Tayler, for Lackington, Allen, 1806. *''The Posthumous Dramatic Works'' (edited by Frances Marianne Cumberland Jansen). (2 volumes), London: G. & W. Nicol, 1813. Volume I, Volume II *''The Plays'' (edited by Roberta F.S. Borkat). New York: Garland, 1982. *''The Unpublished Plays'' (edited by Richard J. Dircks). New York: AMS Press. Volume I, 1991; Volume II, 1992. Novels *''Arundel: A novel''. London: Charles Dilly, 1789; Dublin: G. Burnet / R. Moncrieffe / L. White / et al, 1789. *''Henry: A novel''. London: Charles Dilly, 1795. *''John de Lancaster: A novel''. (3 volumes), London: Lackington, Allen, 1809. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III Non-fiction *''A Letter to the Bishop of O—d; containing some animadversions upon a character of the late Dr. Bentley''. London: J. Wilkie, 1767. *''Anecdotes of Eminent Painters in Spain''. (2 volumes), London: J. Walter, 1782. Volume I, Volume II *''A letter to Richard, Lord Bishop of Llandaff''. London: C. Dilly/ J. Walter, 1783. *''The Observer'' (literary journal; with essays by Cumberland). London: C. Dilly, 1785. (6 volumes), 1798. Volume II, Volume V *''The Character of the late Viscount Sackville. London: C. Dilly, 1785. *''Curtius Rescued from the Gulph; or, The retort courteous to the Rev. Dr. Parr. London: Hookham & Carpenter, 1792. *''Memoirs of Richard Cumberland written by himself. (2 volumes), London: Lackington Allen, 1806; (1 volume), Boston: David Carlisle, for David West / John West / O.C. Greenleaf, 1806; New York: D. & C. Bruce, for Brisban & Brannan, 1806 ''Volume I, Volume II **(edited by Henry Flanders). New York: Benjamin Blom, 1969 **(edited by Richard J. Dircks). New York: AMS Press, 2002. Translated *Arisophanes, The Clouds. London: C. Dilly, 1798. Edited *''The London Review'' (literary magazine). (2 volumes), London: Samuel Tripper, 1809. *''The British Drama: A collection of the most esteemed dramatic productions with biography of the respective authors and critique of each play''. (14 volumes), London: C. Cooke, 1817. Letters *''The Letters'' (edited by Richard J. Dircks). New York: AMS Press, 1988. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Richard Cumberland, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, May 25, 2016. Plays Comedies Among his later comedies were: *''Calypso'' (1779) *''The Natural Son'' (1785), in which Major O'Flaherty who had already figured in The West-Indian, makes his reappearance *''The Country Attorney'' (1787) *''The Impostors'' (1789), a comedy of intrigue * The School for Widows (1789) *''The Box-Lobby Challenge'' (1794), a protracted farce *''The Jew'' (1794), a drama, highly effective when the great German actor Theodor Döring played "Sheva" *''The Wheel of Fortune'' (1795), in which John Philip Kemble found a celebrated part in the misanthropist Penruddock, who cannot forget but learns to forgive (a character declared by August von Kotzebue to have been stolen from his Menschenhass und Reue), while Richard Suett played the comic lawyer Timothy Weasel *''First Love'' (1795) *''The Last of the Family'' (1797) *''The Village Fete'' (1797) *''False Impressions'' (1797) *''The Sailor's Daughter'' (1804) *''Hint to Husbands'' (1806), which, unlike the, rest, is in blank verse. The other works printed during his lifetime include: *''The Note of Hand'' (1774), a farce *''The Princess of Parma'' (1778) *Songs for a musical comedy, The Widow of Delphi (1780) *''The Battle of Hastings'' (1778), a tragedy *''The Carmelite'' (1784), a romantic domestic drama in blank verse, in the style of John Home's Douglas, furnishing some effective scenes for Sarah Siddons and John Kemble as mother and son *''The Mysterious Husband'' (1783), a prose domestic drama *''The Days of Yore'' (1796), a drama *''The Clouds'' (1797) *''Joanna of Mondfaucon'' (1800) *''The Jew of Mogadore'' (1808) His posthumously printed plays (published in 2 vols. in 1813) include: *''The Walloons'' (comedy, acted in 1782) *''The Passive Husband'' (comedy, acted as A Word for Nature, 1798) *''The Eccentric Lover'' (comedy, acted 1798) *''Lovers' Resolutions'' (comedy, once acted in 1802) *''Confession'', a quasi-historic drama *''Don Pedro'' (drama, acted 1796) *''Alcanor'' (tragedy, acted as The Arab, 1785) *''Torrendal'' (tragedy) *''The Sibyl, or The Elder Brutus'' (afterwards amalgamated with other plays on the subject into a very successful tragedy for Edmund Kean by Payne) *''Tiberius in Capreae'' (tragedy) *''The False Demetrius'' (tragedy on a theme which attracted Schiller) Adaptations *Aristophanes' Clouds (1798) *William Shakespeare's Timon of Athens (1771) *Philip Massinger's The Bondman and The Duke of Milan (both 1779). See also *List of British poets *List of English-language playwrights References *''Critical Examination of Cumberland's works'' (1812) and a memoir of the author based on his autobiography, with some criticism, by William Madford, appeared in 1812. * Notes External links ;Poems *Richard Cumberland (1732-1811) info & 5 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830 ;About *Richard Cumberland in the Encyclopædia Britannica *Richard Cumberland at Westminster Abbey * Cumberland, Richard Category:1732 births Category:1811 deaths Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Category:Burials at Westminster Abbey Category:English dramatists and playwrights Category:People from Cambridge Category:English male dramatists and playwrights Category:18th-century poets Category:19th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:English poets Category:English novelists